How women get their way
by Elleth of Hidden Lore
Summary: Shikamaru has no quarrels when Kaori asks him to be her partner for a simple escort mission. It gives him a chance to make some easy money, as well as a chance to spend some alone time with her. Of course, Kaori has the same idea, though she has an idea of how to move things along for the two shinobi who have yet to confess their feelings for each other. Rated M for sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. I have never published anything with smut before, but I started re-watching Naruto a few weeks back and well, I remembered why my teen hormones used to be crazy back then with the characters hahahaha.**

 **So here's one for one of my main crushes, Shikamaru. And depending on how this goes, I might start writing one for Kakashi. I considered one for Gaara, but... I don't know, even I can't picture how that would go XD**

 **Rated M for sexual content in case you didn't see it before.**

 **Let me know what you think, yes?**

 **How women get their way**

Shikamaru really wished that when clients gave information about the services they required, they were honest. Especially before it was too late to back down. Then they could be more prepared to face the threat properly.

But no. People somehow found it necessary to lie about their circumstances and suddenly those bandits turn into full fledged ninjas, assassins working for some corrupt lord, the Legendary Swordsmen of the Mist, or the damned akatsuki!

This should have been an easy C-rank mission, a simple escort to the Land of Water with the chance of an occasional bandit. But now it was certainly a B rank mission. Right now, their enemy turned out to be mercenary ninjas from the Land of Rice Fields that were after their charge.

Apparently, he had tangled with a drug lord's son who attempted to assault him and he killed him. Mercenary ninjas had been sent to bring back. That was about all the information they managed to get out of him once the threat was apparent, before Kaori, black haired, strong and just slightly quick of temper, managed to take their charge to safety. _More like shoved him head first under tree roots and left him a kunai as a mercy._ He would have laughed had he not needed to jump out of the way of a shuriken before countering three more with his kunai. He quickly jumped a few trees away before hiding once more. He scouted for Kaori. She had not been able to rejoin him after hiding their charge. There had been some confrontation, but both quickly managed to get to safety.

 _Man, this was supposed to an easy way to make money and maybe have a nice time. What a drag._

Kaori's teammates had been badly injured during their last mission and they were still recovering. So when she came to Shikamaru to ask him to be her partner for a simple escort mission, he accepted it, if anything to spend some time with her.

 _This is not the time for regrets. Focus. There's five of them, and two of us. They're good. But I haven't seen their fighting style enough to formulate a proper strategy. And without knowing where Kaori is I can't include her either._

Shikamaru's eyes slid to the roots where their charge was hidden. He was thankful that the lying oaf was at least smart enough to stay still and not draw attention to himself. _Our charge is secured. As long as he doesn't do anything stupid, he should stay undetected. Now, if I could find Kaori-_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of fighting. He dashed towards the sounds and soon found Kaori facing two of the ninjas. He threw two kunai and caught one off-guard ninja under the rib cage, while the other was able to detect him and block the attack, but that short moment in which his attention was shifted to Shikamaru, Kaori's blow connected with his gut. Loyal to her name, her strength was enough to completely disable him, but for good measure, she grabbed him by the arm, swung him in the air, and kicked him hard enough to send him crashing against a tree and down every branch on the way.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru went after the ninja he injured. Even wounded, he had no intention of giving in. He took a more defensive approach, dodging and sometimes blocking whatever Shikamaru threw at him.

Shikamaru realized a pattern in his movements. He was luring him somewhere. Shikamaru knew he had to finish him before he was lured into whatever trap his opponent had in mind. He quickly stuck a paper bomb on his shuriken and threw it right past his opponent, who took it as a miss from Shikamaru's part. Shikamaru appeared to go after him, just long enough for him to run into the paper bomb. He then jumped back just as the bomb detonated. The man was sent flying and Shikamaru followed. Upon reaching him, he punched him on the temple, causing him to fall unconscious.

Shikamaru picked up the man, bound him and set him along side the one Kaori had taken down. Immediately both jumped back into hiding.

"Good," he said. "Now that we're together, we can figure out how to take these guys down."

"We managed to give them the slip quite fast. It's obvious they're not familiar with this area."

"Yes, we have that advantage. Plus we took two of them down. Now we have to figure out where the other three are. Or… we can just fall back," he said, looking seriously at her. "He lied, so we no longer have an obligation towards this guy. And who knows what else awaits us?"

Kaori thought for a moment, then frowned. "No. I want this guy to pay us in full for this mission, plus interests. Besides, these guys are good, but not that great. I'm sure we can take them."

Shikamaru sighed.

Kaori looked at him. "But I dragged you here. We can desist and go back."

"Nah, you're right. This guy has to pay us for the trouble."

Kaori smiled. "So, do you think we should grab our charge and bolt or try to lure those three out?"

"We still have a three days' journey to the Country of Water. They will surely follow us. If we take them all out, we'll have a better chance to get there without further confrontation."

"Alright. Any plans?"

Shikamaru frowned. "None. I didn't get to see these guys well before we hid. I don't know their fighting style or jutsu. We have to decide if we're going to wait till they find us, or try to find them."

"I say we find them before they find us," she said, biting her thumb.

Shikamaru got ready as she summoned her dog. The large, brown, slobbering thing looked like a bear to him, and he would be lying if he didn't say he had great respect for it, if not fear.

"Alright Goro, find them and bring them here."

"Aye," he said in a deep, guttural voice before dashing away.

Shikamaru quickly conjured a plan to confront the shinobi more safely. Both quickly hid and waited for Goro to return. Not a minute later she heard a howl and several voices exclaiming in surprise.

The massive beast came back, dragging a screaming ninja by the arm. Two more chased closely after them.

"Good work, Goro! Pass him!"

Goro swung his victim towards Kaori who jumped as she weaved metal threads around him, tying him tightly before swinging him against a tree head first. Before she could pull the man back, she found her back impaled with two kunai. Kaori cried out and fell on the closest branch, hands still clutching the threads tightly. She turned around just in time to see the two remaining enemies were upon her. Both extended their fists to her but froze only inches away from her.

The black haired girl gave a cocky grin before puffing up in smoke, leaving a log behind.

"What?"

"Substitution?"

"But why are we-"

"I'd say to look behind you," Shikamaru's voice cut in, "but that's impossible right now."

Kaori fell from her hiding spot, carrying the man in the threads under one arm, and holding a kunai up with the other. Goro jumped to stand beside her, close enough for the two men to feel his hot breath on their faces.

"Good work, Kaori."

The two mercenaries gasped, realizing the gravity of the situation. Both struggled to get free but couldn't move an inch.

"Don't bother," Shikamaru said. "You're under my shadow possession jutsu. You don't move unless I want you to. See?" he said, raising both hands and flexing his fist to let them feel him control them.

Both men gasped.

"I've heard of this technique," one of them said.

"Then how do we get out of it?" the other asked, his voice heavy with alarm.

"We don't, not unless he runs out of chakra or releases us on his own will."

Sweat had already gathered thickly over both ninjas' brows. All they could hope for was that their other two companions would show up and help them.

Kaori had been studying them closely and could easily read their thoughts. Not that they could hide them well now in a moment of panic. She chuckled.

"Don't hope for help. Your two friends are unconscious and tied up as well."

"Then… what do you plan to do with us?"

Kaori looked over their shoulders to Shikamaru.

"Our mission is to escort the man you seek," he said. "We have no quarrel with you but right now we're on opposing teams. We can't let you go."

Their eyes opened in fear and their breath hitched.

Kaori laughed. "Honestly, we are not cruel. We won't kill you. Not unless you don't cooperate. If so, you _will_ die." Her eyes darkened as she spoke, sending chills down the men's back.

"We'll leave you tied up. I'm sure you'll figure out how get free soon enough. If you follow us, we won't hesitate to take you out next time."

The two ninja looked at the girl and dog in front of them. The beast could surely tear them to shreds if asked to. And even with the element of surprise in their favor, those two had won rather easily.

"We are not fools," one of them said, bowing his head. "We accept when we are bested. We thank you for your mercy."

"Hai," the other said, bowing his head as well.

Shikamaru nodded to Kaori.

"Then, let's hope we never meet again," she said before swiftly slamming her elbow behind both men's neck, leaving them unconscious.

After being sure that all the mercenaries were tightly secured and dismissing Goro, Shikamaru and Kaori went back to their charge's hiding spot.

The man was cowering as deep as the roots of the tree allowed him, his hands shaking as he held onto Kaori's kunai. He yelped when two shadows fell in front of his hiding spot and lashed out with the blade as a hand reached in and pulled him out. Kaori quickly stopped his attack and forced him to drop the weapon. The man's short and chubby figure dangled two feet from the ground as the girl held him with ease.

"Calm down," Shikamaru said. "They're done for. But you owe us an explanation."

Kaori scowled at the man before dropping him.

"I suppose I have no choice," said the middle-aged man, sighing. "I told you this is because of a drug lord's son. At the time I had no idea who I was dealing with. I had never seen or heard of this drug lord before, and I surely didn't know I was messing with his son. I was at a gambling house when we met and started making bets. I… got sly. I saw that I could make good money out of this guy so I tried my luck on him."

"You mean you cheated," said Shikamaru.

The man sighed. "To put it bluntly, yes, I did cheat. But he became suspicious when he started losing too many times in a row. I didn't see when he signaled one of his lackeys to keep an eye on me. I didn't even know he had company. That's when he found out what had happened and attacked me." He paused, his jaw tensing as he remembered the events. "I… I didn't mean to kill him. It was a reflex. He drew a sword on me and grabbed me by the neck, saying he'd kill me. He didn't see me pull out the knife until it was too late. That's when his men told me who he was and tried to catch me. I fled and made my way to your village. I knew it was a matter of time before someone was sent after me, so I hired you ninjas."

"But why lie about the details?" Kaori asked. "You might have ended with even less experienced shinobi. That could have cost your life as well as theirs."

The man shuffled, uncomfortably. "I, uh, knew the higher the rank of the mission, the higher the cost."

"Man, greed really gets the best of you," said Shikamaru. "You almost got killed cheating to win, and now you almost got killed just to not pay the extra coin."

"But you lied," Kaori said. "You hired us for a D-rank mission. Not only did you pay us less than what you owe, you risked our lives as well as yours. Do you think you're getting away with this?"

The man shrunk away from the ninja's glare. "Eeeeh," he said, starting to sweat. "Of course, I understand. I will pay you what is missing from your mission."

"You will, _plus_ interests. You will give us an extra ration of the money, and you will pay for housing and meals when we get to the Land of Water. Unless you want us to tie you up and release the mercenaries. We won't waste our equipment on you if you won't make up for what you've done."

It was more than clear that the man wasn't happy at all with the arrangements. But Kaori's hazel eyes burned into his, and he knew he really had no word on the matter.

They continued on their way, covering as much ground as possible. Shikamaru and Kaori took turns carrying the man on their back to run above the trees to move faster and not leave an easy trail for enemies to follow.

Come nightfall, they stopped to camp. They had dinner and soon the man was curled up and asleep, leaving the two shinobi alone. After finishing his meal, Shikamaru laid back, arms folded under his head, and face gazing at the stars. Kaori was still helping herself to some more food.

"I don't know where you store all that food," Shikamaru said, teasingly, as he tilted his head up to look at his companion. Then again, he knew she trained vigorously and thus ate to compensate. She was the tank in her team after all. She was strong in body and in mind. Even so, she didn't rely on brute force. Her tactics were not always very well planned, but she never rushed head on into a situation if it was avoidable. Shikamaru liked that about her. Even if she had the strength to face most enemies without problems, she waited, she analyzed, or allowed someone with better analytic skills to plan a better fighting strategy. She didn't flaunt her strength like some did by ignoring tactics and relying on strength alone. That's why he sometimes wished she had been her teammate. There was also the fact that Ino was almost insufferable, and Kaori had a far more pleasant personality. So much, in fact, that he had found himself thinking that maybe not all women were a drag.

Shikamaru chuckled at his thoughts.

"Hm?" Kaori said, not sure if she had missed something.

"Huh? Ah, nothing."

Kaori was silent for a moment. "I'm really sorry this turned out this way. I shouldn't have dragged you into this."

"What? Why do you say that?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"This has caused you more trouble than you expected."

"It has caused us both some trouble, but hey, we made extra money out of it and got to spend some time out," he said with a smile.

Kaori smile. If it wasn't for the light of the fire, Shikamaru might have seen the slight blush of glee that colored her cheeks. She could have asked just about anyone to join her. She had considered Hinata, her best friend, but her little devil had popped on her shoulder and whispered about the delightful possibilities of going on a mission with Shikamaru. Her little devil had created all the images of adventure and romance and desire, all which she knew were more than far-fetched and ridiculous at best. Not only were they exaggerated beyond reality, they were not the way she'd really like things to happen anyways. But of course, her seventeen-year-old self was prone to wild fantasies. She could not help to laugh at the ridiculous notions her mind had conjured.

Shikamaru looked at her, expectantly, but she pretended not to see him.

"I'll take the first watch," she said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, you carried him last."

Shikamaru nodded. "Thanks."

As the night settled in, Kaori grinned, wondering if in what time they had remaining of the mission, something might happen to bring them to confess their feelings for each other. She had caught him staring and stealing glances over the past year or so. They had been on friendly terms ever since they became chunin, but as years passed, they became closer, more personal. They had faced great dangers together, had come across near death experiences, and it was in those that she realized that she did not wish to ever lose Shikamaru. She realized how deeply she cared for him, and how that care grew into love as time went on. But most importantly, she had noticed how Shikamaru's relationship with her changed, how he became more caring and looked for her company more often.

There was no way to say for certain that she was right, but she looked forward to a moment in which she could reveal her true feelings for him and be reciprocated.

Besides, she wasn't one to wait around for the guy to make the first move. She had plans to lure him during the rest of this trip, a way to let him know that she thought of him in ways that would probably make the shinobi blush harder than a maiden that has been whispered a dirty little secret.

She smirked. She'd have her way.

 **Well, only one more chapter to go. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Constructive criticism is always welcomed.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Important:**

 **So, this is probably the fiftieth time I had to take down the chapter and re-post it. I had tried replacing it but that never seemed to fix the problem. The chapter either never appeared, appeared codded and impossible to read, or appeared in a mixed mess of fonts that made it a headache to read. This has happened several times now. I don't know what is wrong with this site but I stopped posting because they never even answered my emails.**

 **Please forgive this mess. I have tried to fix it a million times now and it keeps happening.**

 **Chapter 2**

They made it to their destination the following day at nightfall. From the hill they were on, they could see the town was quite lit up with colorful lights and music. They made their way down and soon they were walking in the heart of the festivities.

"What do you think they're celebrating?" Kaori asked.

"It is the Festival of the Sea, dearie," said an old woman who happened to hear her.

"Oh, uh," Kaori said before the old woman continued.

"We celebrate how the sea provides us with plenty of fish and other things to sustain us and pray to the gods for good fishing."

"Huh, everyone seems to be having a good time."

"Well," said Shikamaru, turning to look at their charge, "our mission ends here. Pay up."

The man seemed hesitant as he searched for the money, almost like a lover unwilling to depart from his beloved. He handed Shikamaru the money he still owed for the mission.

"I suppose I better get going," the man said as he started to leave.

"Not so fast!" Kaori exclaimed as she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back. "You still owe us for the trouble. Remember our deal? Two thousand ryō, plus enough for our lodging expenses?"

"Two thousand?! That's insane!"

" _Plus_ our lodging money," she nearly snarled as pulled him closer to her by the shirt.

"That's the price for this sort of mission," Shikamaru said. "It's between a hundred fifty thousand and two thousand ryō."

"But since you made us go through more trouble than we should have for lying, we're charging full price. Now, pay up."

The man growled and grumbled under his breath. Kaori glared when she saw he made no move to get the money.

"I can easily drag your sorry ass all the way back and leave you tied up for the mercenaries to find you. Or better yet, I can turn you in myself. There's bound to be a bounty on your head by now."

Hearing her threat, plus seeing they were attracting some attention, the man quickly pulled out what he had agreed to pay. Kaori released him and counted the money. It was a good, small fortune, enough for them to spend a day or two at an in and still have a good sum for their pockets.

She grinned victoriously. "A pleasure doing business with you."

The man scurried away, still grumbling and visibly pissed, but Kaori couldn't care less.

Shikamaru chuckled. "Well, you handled that well, as always."

Kaori grinned. "At least it was worth it!" she said, handing him his share of the money.

"Thanks. Now, let's go find an inn. Most probably all the ones near the festivities area will be full by now, not to mention overpriced. We should look deeper into town."

"Roger that. And let's grab something to eat as well. I'm starving."

"You're always starving," he teased.

"That's because I pull most of the weight!" she teased back.

Shikamaru chuckled. "I won't argue there."

As Shikamaru predicted, every inn near the area was completely booked, and any available room was priced three times higher than usual. So they made it almost all the way to the other side of the town where they found an inn with an available room at a reasonable price. The room had two beds and the price included breakfast, so they took it.

As they opened the door to their room, a short hallway with semi-transparent white curtains on the frame led to their room. Immediately to the left, there was a door that led to the bathroom. I had no door, just a dark green curtain. The two beds stood side by side, neatly made with fresh, white bed sheets. There was a sliding door at the back of the room that led to a balcony with a view of the ocean.

"This is quite nice," Kaori remarked as she studied the room.

"Yeah," Shikamaru said before yawning and stretching his arms above his head. "Man, I'm beat."

Kaori gave him a look, and Shikamaru laughed.

"Hey, I don't have the strength or energy you have. I don't know how you people do it."

" _We people_?"

"Yeah, the muscle of the group, or tanks as some call you. Like Naruto is for his team, Kiba for his, and Shoji for mine. You guys always have strength and energy that makes up for the other two team members combined. I can't imagine how that must feel like."

Kaori chuckled. "I guess it's not something I've ever thought about. It's not like I'm even conscious about it. Though I think team leaders have it tougher. So much depends on you guys. You're expected to be smart and always have a plan B to Z."

It was Shikamaru's turn to laugh. "Guess these things just come naturally to each of us then." He yawned again. "I think I'm turning in early."

"Oh."

"What?"

"I thought maybe we could freshen up and then go around and enjoy the festival."

Shikamaru stared at her for a moment. His main intention for doing this mission was to spend time with her. But he was legitimately tired. _Man, what a drag. I suppose I can go with her for a while_ , he thought.

"Fine then. You can shower first."

"Alright!" she exclaimed before heading to the bathroom. The tub was rather small, though two people could snug into it. There was a stack of towels and two bathrobes on a small table. Kaori was relieved that the bath was already prepared. She stripped and slid into the water, sighing in pleasure as the warm water embraced her skin.

Kaori would have lingered a while longer, but she wished to head out with Shikamaru, so she scrubbed herself clean, rinsed, got out and wrapped herself in the bathrobe. As she went back into the bedroom she saw Shikamaru asleep on the bed. She sighed. _Looks like we won't be going out after all_ , she thought before lying across her bed. She frowned at the ceiling as if it had the fault for Shikamaru being asleep. She turned her face to look at him. He was definitely not going to wake up anytime soon.

There was nothing left to do. She got up and walked over to the balcony. The sea air was odd to her. She had been to the coasts a few times, but she still found it odd, almost overwhelming. The strong scent of the sea, the loud sound of the waves crashing sounded to her more like a threat, a promise of danger rather than a lullaby as many felt. And the vastness of the sea, the wide, seemingly unending spread of water didn't feel inviting to her at all. She preferred rivers. They felt friendlier to her. They were not so loud, not so prepotent, they didn't overwhelm the senses with so much sound and smell and vastness.

Feeling uneasy, she closed the door and returned to bed. She looked at Shikamaru once more. She would try still to get him to notice her feeling for him. _Though that will have to be tomorrow. Although,_ she thought with a smirk as she looked down at her bathrobe, _it doesn't hurt to start now_.

 **Let me know what you think of it so far?**

 **I have most of the next chapter written but I'm not satisfied with it. So, ideas are welcomed. Can't promise I'll use them all but I will honestly consider them.**


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